A SLACK TIME FOR TAKEOVERS

By ROBERT J. COLE

Published: February 2, 1987

''You and I,'' the Wall Street arbitrager said last week to the takeover reporter, ''are out of business.''

''Arbs'' are highly imaginative and many tend to exaggerate for effect, but the remark captured the somewhat gloomy mood of Wall Street's high-rolling professionals.

Many throw millions of dollars into takeover deals hoping to profit handsomely from the rise in stock prices. Now they have plenty of money -and hardly anything to spend it on: Takeovers, particularly the giant and hostile deals that catch the public's eye, have dried up for now.

Instead, the investment banking houses are spending time on such routine matters as corporate restructurings, divestitures and - because of the weak dollar - foreign buyouts of American companies. The 'Python Effect'

One mergers and acquisitions expert attributed the slowdown to what he called the ''python effect'': The market has to digest what it took on toward the end of last year before it can take on anything new.

Other experts say the lull has been caused by tax considerations that made it more attractive to complete deals by the end of 1986, exceptionally high stock prices that take the profit out of the hunt for targets and the uncertainty in the wake of the insider trading scandal involving Ivan F. Boesky.

The slowdown is so pronounced that it is being felt on a personal level.

''In the last few weeks,'' said David Duffy of Adams & Rinehart, a leading publicity concern that handles corporate announcements, ''I've been able to keep more social engagements than I've broken.'' A Relatively Quiet Month

During January, according to Wall Street estimates, only 15 takeover deals of more than $100 million each were announced, and only seven, with a total worth of $3.2 billion, were completed. In January 1986, 19 deals involving $8.9 billion were announced, and 21 were completed, for a total of $10.02 billion.

The slowdown last month followed a frenetic period at year-end. In the final quarter of 1986, 93 deals of at least $100 million were completed, with a total value of $44.05 billion, compared with 58 in the same period the year before, at $36.58 billion.

''The Dow is real high,'' said Donald G. Drapkin, a Wall Street lawyer active in takeover situations. ''So it's hard to come up with a bargain. And the tax situation is unclear. Before, you could break up a company and avoid paying tax on the gains. Now the situation is unclear.''

Mr. Drapkin said the market was ''only now starting to feel more comfortable that the Boesky scandal is not going to have a permanent effect on how you do deals.'' Drexel Activity Noted

Some analysts also attribute the slowdown to the lower profile of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., the nation's biggest seller of junk bonds and a fund raiser for some of the biggest takeover deals. The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken an interest in Drexel as part of its continuing Boesky investigation.

Although several investment bankers see a quick return to the maddeningly hectic takeover pace, some predict slow times for a few months, because many deals planned for this year were pushed through to take advantage of the old tax law.

Under provisions no longer available to most companies because of the new tax code, which took effect Jan. 1, sellers could mark up the book value of their companies to the current purchase price and not have to pay a corporate tax on the difference. The new code also taxes the difference in price in a corporate liquidation. And the long-term capital gains tax, which had been a maximum of 20 percent last year, now has a 28 percent top rate.

After the year-end binge, many of the regulars are keeping busy with only a handful of deals. Others have dusted off long-dormant projects, visited clients or promoted deals that may not see daylight for months.

Yet some of the big Wall Street houses - especially those untouched by the Boesky affair - say that business is just as strong as it was a month or two ago, just not as visible. 'There's Still Activity'

He noted that Morgan had helped sell the Safeway Stores' British chain to Britain's Argyll Group P.L.C. for $1 billion; represented Britain's Grand Metropolitan P.L.C. in its $1.2 billion deal to buy Heublein Inc. from RJR Nabisco Inc.; advised Forstmann, Little & Company in its $2.1 billion purchase of Lear Siegler Inc., and is helping Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Company in its $3.2 billion bid for Owens-Illinois.

Joseph R. Perella, co-head of investment banking at the First Boston Corporation, said his firm was busy with takeover activity, adding, ''There's a lot brewing.''

First Boston is ''fighting Boone Pickens'' in his hostile bid for control of the Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Mr. Perella said, and has helped Argyll buy Safeway's British stores, raising $1 billion in Britain to finance it. It is also working with Morgan Stanley to help Kohlberg, Kravis buy Owens-Illinois; is joining with Goldman, Sachs & Company to help the USX Corporation defend itself against Carl C. Icahn, and is advising the Allied Stores Corporation on the sale of more than $1 billion in retailing properties. Heavy International Role

One of the reasons for First Boston's activity, Mr. Perella added, is its heavy international business with Credit Suisse First Boston, especially in Britain, Japan, West Germany and Switzerland. The low dollar is the engine that drives that activity, Mr. Perella said.

Others see visible activity resuming when the stock market dips.

''We've already had a trickle,'' one takeover adviser said, ''but it depends on the stock market. If we have a major correction, you'll see some deals.'' And if interest rates stay as favorable as they are, he said, buyers may absorb the high stock prices and do deals anyway.

Mr. Drapkin, who is leaving a partnership in the Manhattan law firm of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom next month to join Ronald O. Perelman, the takeover-minded chairman of the Revlon Group, said: ''People will be taking a breather from the year-end pace, and then the pace will pick up again.''